Performance of the Year: Terence Crawford TKO 9 Errol Spence Jr.
The following article appears in the January 2024 “Best of 2023” issue of The Ring, available now on the site and via the new Ring Magazine app, which can be downloaded here.
Terence Crawford TKO 9 Errol Spence Jr.
Terence Crawford has been universally recognized as one of boxing’s best pound-for-pound fighters for the better part of the last decade.
But the one major knock on “Bud” was that a win against a highly reputable opponent was missing from his resume.
That all came to an end on July 29, when Crawford (40-0, 31 KOs) reeled in “The Big Fish,” Errol Spence Jr., and delivered a career-defining performance in a major showdown more than five years in the making.
The win resulted in Crawford collecting all of the welterweight belts and the prestigious Ring Magazine title. Being crowned the undisputed champion also resulted in Crawford’s elevation to No. 1 in The Ring’s pound-for-pound rankings.
The fight was considered somewhat of a 50-50 matchup going in, although Crawford was the slight betting favorite. But the Nebraska native delivered a one-sided beating that will be remembered for ages to come.
(Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime)
Crawford had a stunning, stone-cold showcase, knocking down the Texan once in the second, twice in the seventh, then mercifully forcing referee Harvey Dock to step in and stop the one-sided action in the ninth.
Crawford connected with 185 shots against Spence, who fired back 96 of his own but failed to evoke any concern from Crawford. Bud seemingly dominated every second of the contest from stern to stem.
The long-anticipated event was also a commercial success by all accounts, generating nearly 700,000 pay-per-view buys domestically and more than $21,000,000 in ticket sales at the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.
(Photo by Esther Lin/Showtime)
A sequel is in store for 2024. Spence exercised his contractual right to a rematch, but it remains to be seen at what weight a fight will be contested. Crawford and Spence have both stated that a move up to 154 pounds is imminent.
After years of pounding the table for high-profile fights, the 36-year-old Crawford is finally in an advantageous position to fight anyone at any weight he pleases.
Clashes against the likes of Ring Magazine 154-pound champion Jermell Charlo and undisputed super middleweight champion Canelo Alvarez could follow.
The three-division champion could quickly add world titles in other weight classes, should he turn in more prolific performances like he did against Spence.
RUNNERS-UP:
Naoya Inoue KO 8 Stephen Fulton — Naoya Inoue’s tentative title for Performance of the Year lasted a mere four days until Terence Crawford took it away, but the Japanese star’s destruction of unified titlist Stephen Fulton during his 122-pound debut was utterly impressive and further added to his mystique and moniker of “The Monster.”
Devin Haney UD 12 Regis Prograis — Former undisputed lightweight champion Devin Haney made two-time 140-pound titlist Regis Prograis look like an outmatched novice, easily picking him apart to score the shoutout unanimous decision win in his junior welterweight debut. Haney outlanded Prograis 129 to 36 during the masterclass performance. Prograis, meanwhile, set a CompuBox record for the fewest total punches landed in a 12-round fight.
Teofimo Lopez Jr. UD 12 Josh Taylor — Teofimo Lopez Jr. was perceived to be a broken boxer heading into the fight against Josh Taylor, but he proved that he still has plenty left in the tank by beating the former undisputed junior welterweight champion. Lopez’s big win planted him back in Ring Magazine’s top 10 pound-for-pound list.
Jesse Rodriguez RTD 9 Sunny Edwards — If 2022 was considered Jesse Rodriguez’s coming-out party, 2023 was the year that proved the boxer billed as “Bam” will be hosting block parties across 112, 115 and 118 pounds for years to come. Rodriguez dominated Sunny Edwards to become a unified flyweight titlist, and for the first time, also cracked the top 10 of Ring Magazine’s pound-for-pound list.
Manouk Akopyan is a sports journalist, writer and broadcast reporter. He’s also a member of the Boxing Writers Association of America and the MMA Journalists Association. He can be reached on X (Twitter), Instagram, LinkedIn, and YouTube at @ManoukAkopyan, through email at manouk.akopyan@gmail.com, or via www.ManoukAkopyan.com.
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Naoya Inoue is the first Japanese boxer to win The Ring's Fighter-of-the-Year honor in the publication's 95-year history of the prestigious award.
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